I write in response to your Official Information Act request received by way of partial transfer from the Ministry of Health (MoH) on the 12th October 2020 (MoH Ref: H202007117), you requested the following information:
"In respect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and the machines used to
administer this treatment, can you please provide the following information:
A. Is there a centralised purchasing agent or policy for ECT machines? eg Pharmac.
B. Are there different machines in use in different DHBs?
C. How many machines are in use in each DHB? If that too wide a request, then in Waitemata DHB, Canterbury DHB, and Capital and Coast DHB.
D. In the light of the Somatic’s disclaimers set out below, are any Somatic machines in NZ, what advice, if any, has the Ministry given to the clinical users and/or patients using the machines.
E. If most of the machines are of a particular manufacturer, how long have they been in use, I am particularly interested in the age and make of the ECT machines in the Waitemata DHB.
F. Since 1 January 2010, what advice has the Ministry given to Psychiatrists and/or Anaesthetists and or any other medical personnel and/or DHBs on the use of ECT. Within the meaning of the term "advice" that should include any policy or guidelines howsoever labelled.
G. How many complaints, if any, have been made to the Ministry regarding the use of ECT machines annually in the period 1 January 2010, to 1 January 2020?
H. Does the Ministry have any statistics of any complaints about ECT that have been made to DHBs, and if so, please provide similar information broken down annually in the period 1 January 2010, to 1 January 2020.
I. Can the Ministry provide details of whether in the last 10 years there have been any complaints of breaches of section 9 of NZBORA in relation to ECT treatments, either to the Ministry or DHBs, and if so the results of those complaints"
Please note, questions A, D, F, G & I, of your request will be responded to by the Ministry of Health.
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